Only eight remain in this year’s snooker world championship and, barring the eliminated Ronnie O’Sullivan, the cream of the crop have survived ensuring there is top-class action to come.
The eight quarter finalists have 105 ranking event titles between them with only Anthony McGill and Kyren Wilson missing the Crucible crown from their cvs.
The action got underway in Sheffield with the first sessions of Wilson versus Neil Robertson and McGill taking on Stuart Bingham, with the other two matches starting this afternoon.
Top Trump the man to beat
World number one Judd Trump came into this championship more than one million pounds clear of number two Ronnie O’Sullivan following a sensational 24 months and is the man to beat.
This season alone Trump has bagged five ranking event titles and reached nine semi-finals in the 15 tournaments he has entered.
Whereas his opponent in the quarter-finals, Shaun Murphy, has picked up just two professional titles in the last three years and has struggled for consistency.
Trump is a very worthy favourite for the best-of-25 clash at 5/19 and is hard to oppose, while 2005 Crucible king Murphy is available to back at 11/4.
Trump leads the head-to-head 22-11 and has compiled the highest break in the last three matches between these two players, he is 10/23 to produce the top contribution again here and Murphy is 8/5.
The man sitting at the top of the rankings is also the man sitting at the top of the outright market and rightly so, Trump saw off both Liam Highfield and Dave Gilbert without producing his very best but there is much more to come from him we may see that here as Murphy will provide more of a test.
Punters should look to Trump in the handicap market, the 31-year-old appeals most at 8/11 giving up 3.5 frames.
Former Champions Clash in a Competitive Affair
Another two former world champions are in action on the green baize this afternoon, with Mark Selby and Mark Williams starting their quarter-final and it’s a match expected to go the distance.
Best Shots of the @Betfred World Championship! [𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎𝚍]
Enjoy five pearlers.
Action resumes at 10am, on @BBCSport & @Eurosport_UK #ilovesnooker pic.twitter.com/iG6U59k9Iu
— World Snooker Tour (@WeAreWST) April 27, 2021
Both players have three world titles to their name and have been in great form so far in this event.
They are very evenly matched in the head-to-head with Selby only shading it 21-17 and punters should expect this one to go deep.
Williams was sensational when taking apart John Higgins in the second round, while Selby cruised past Mark Allen after taking apart Kurt Maflin.
The Jester from Leicester has won the last three meetings and is the favourite at 4/9 but given the way Williams has been performing he is more appealing at 9/5.
However, the bets for punters to focus on here are the number of frames being played as both players are hardened in matchplay, very experienced in these long-format matches and both will prove tough to beat.
Over 23.5 frames to be played at 21/10 is the bet, while punters should not be put off the price of the match going to a deciding frame at 19/4.
*All odds correct at time of writing